Scholars are aware of many texts which in antiquity were viewed as Orphic, the vast majority of which have been lost. What of this Orphic corpus has survived? There are numerous fragments, most of which were collected in the last century by the German philologist Otto Kern.Many of these fragments are quotations from a great epic poem, the Sacred Logos in Twenty-Four Rhapsodies (Ιερός Λόγος σε 24 Ραψωδίες), from which the story it tells has been reconstructed. We have an Orphic work, the Dærvǽni (Derveni; Gr. Δερβένι) Papyrus, not complete, but a sizable section of the text. But has anything survived in its entirety from the Orphic literature? We possess the Orphǽohs Argonaftiká(Orphic Argonautica; Gr. Ὀρφέως Ἀργοναυτικά), an epic poem describing the journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece, similar to the Argonautica of Apollóhnios Ródios (Apollonius of Rhodes; Gr. Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος) but more mystical in nature. We have the so-called Golden Tablets, little poems written on thin sheets of gold which were buried in the graves of Orphic worshippers. We have a curious text called the Lithica. Perhaps the most significant Orphic composition we possess in its entirety is a group of devotional poems known collectively as the Orphic Hymns (Gr. Ὀρφικοί Ὕμνοι).

The Orphic Hymns are a collection of eighty-seven [1] hymns to the Gods which have been used in the Mystical rituals of Ællinismόs (Hellenismos; Gr. Ἑλληνισμός), the ancient Greek religion. The poems are attributed to Orphéfs (Orpheus; Gr. Ὀρφεύς), the great thæólogos
(theologian; Gr. θεόλογος), but the actual authorship is unclear. The date of composition of the hymns is also a matter of dispute. There are those in the Orphic tradition who believe they are 10,000 years old, based on certain clues found in the text itself [2] . Scholars, on the other hand, claim a time period ranging anywhere from the sixth century BCE to the fourth century CE, most believing they were composed in the later period, but it is curious, and has been noted, that there is no evidence of any Christian influence in the poems, leaving one to suspect a more ancient date of creation. G.R.S. Mead, in his book Orpheus, argues for a date of great antiquity, citing a number of ancient authors...

"the poems of Orpheus date back to Pelasgic Greece, to the days of legend, to pre-historic times." [3]

...but he makes certain questionable assumptions (see the note).

Perhaps the poems are of more recent authorship, but the ideas contained within them are most certainly of great antiquity. Ultimately, the critical consideration for a practitioner of this religion is that the hymns are accepted by the contemporary Orphic community in Greece and elsewhere and are the principle body of literature used in ritual.

The Orphic Hymns are thought of as a storehouse of mysticism, and it is true that many of the hymns have this insight, but what is rarely mentioned concerning these poems is that for the most part they present very traditional portraits-in-miniature of the Gods, portraits which are extremely useful to familiarize students of the religion in the characteristics of deities. As a perfect example, read through the hymn to Ártæmis (Artemis; Gr. Άρτεμις); you will discover that it is entirely traditional, presenting a vivid likeness of the Goddess. And this is true of so many of the hymns. Some, such as the hymn to Íphaistos (Hephaestus; Gr. Ἥφαιστος), give hints as to mystical associations of Gods, but for the most part, the poems are fantastic "snapshots" that help us to become acquainted with well-known associations of these deities. Many of the hymns contain long strings of epithets (such as #30, the hymn to Diónysos), leading some critics to question their inspiration. Often, the hymns will refer to a deity by an epithet rather than using the familiar name of the God. This use of epithets to those who worship the Gods is thought of as very beautiful, but it is also beneficial for the student, for someone who desires to be educated in ancient works of literature, those who should be familiar with these words and how they are used.

TRANSLATIONS OF THE ORPHIC HYMNS

At this date, there are several English translations of the hymns available, but only two worthy of our consideration: Thomas Taylor (1792) and Apostolos N. Athanassakis (1977). Each of these translations is excellent for different reasons. If you are a student of Greek, the Athanassakis is generally more word-for-word accurate, but the Taylor has other advantages that appeal to those who follow Ællinismόs. Ideally, it is beneficial to have both available.

It is very peculiar that there is no translation of the Orphic hymns in the Loeb Classical Library. Indeed, as of this date they have not published translations of the hymns nor the Ὀρφέως Ἀργοναυτικά northe Δερβένι papyrus, leaving their catalog suspiciously absent of anything Orphic except by coincidence. It is interesting to note that when the early Christian church-fathers attacked our religion, they particularly attacked the Orphic texts, which means that they must have seen them as important, perhaps even threatening. For those familiar with the Orphic mythology, it is obvious why. For this and many other reasons these texts should not be ignored by Loeb. Their publications have a wonderful and useful feature: they always include the text in the original language. The ancient Greek is available online or as a download with an English translation (see below).

The Thomas Taylor translation

Thomas Taylor (1758-1835 CE) was a mathematician and Neoplatonist philosopher of Georgian-era England. He spoke from a unique position in the largely Christian world of western Europe: Taylor had the conviction of faith in the texts he translated. It is, perhaps, for this reason that his translations have been viewed with suspicion and are sometimes denigrated, as if Taylor had crossed a forbidden line and lost scholarly distance from his subject. It is curious that someone who held many of the same beliefs as the authors he translated is regarded with skepticism, while translators inclined to beliefs quite contrary to these authors would be regarded as more trustworthy. A comparison between Taylor's translation of Plátohn (Plato; Gr. Πλάτων) and that of Jowett or even more contemporary readings rarely finds significant difference other than occasional language archaisms, so the negative critique would seem biased against Taylor for some partisan inference.

Taylor was the first to translate into English the complete extant works of Plátohn and Aristotǽlis (Aristotle; Gr. Ἀριστοτέλης), as well as much of Prόklos (Proclus; Gr. Πρόκλος), Porphýrios (Porphyry: G. Πορφύριος), Plohtínos (Plotinus; Gr. Πλωτῖνος), Pafsanías (Pausanias; Gr. Παυσανίας), Iámvlikhos (Iamblichus; Gr. Ἰάμβλιχος), and others, a monumental body of work. Taylor also wrote excellent commentaries for each of his translations as well as many independent essays such as his dissertations on the rights of animals and the ancient Mysteries.

While the great bulk of Taylor's translations are prosaic, The Hymns of Orpheus, published in 1792, are set in rhyming verse, a practice not uncommon in scholarly translations of poetry from this period. While not always word-for-word precise, Taylor clearly understands the hymns, an accomplishment acknowledged by contemporary Orphic teachers in Greece, most of whom prefer his translation for students who speak English.

Taylor's translation of the hymns is frequently criticized for specific reasons, usually frivolous reasons. He occasionally uses obsolete words (such as cærulean, "dark blue") but on the whole, the translation is quite readable, despite being in a somewhat archaic style of English. American readers have criticized Taylor (and other translators from the 1800s ) for using words such as thee and thou, believing that he was trying to imitate King James Biblical language. This is entirely false; these words are part of the English vernacular and such language can be seen as recently as 1969 in the dialogue found in the film Kes, directed by Ken Loach, the actors having authentic Yorkshire accents and dialect and the extras having been recruited locally from Barnsley [4] . Words such as thee and thou flow freely from the mouths of the ordinary locals in a most amazing display. Kes clearly demonstrates that the use of these words is entirely secular and has not even disappeared in parts of England.

Another unfair criticism of Taylor's translation is his use of the Roman names for the Gods rather than the Greek, but it must be understood that the language of scholars in his lifetime was Latin, not Greek, so Taylor was simply following the convention of the Georgian period. It is said that in the confines of his home, Taylor and his wife spoke ancient Greek entirely.

Taylor's introductory essay and additional comments to individual hymns reveal his immense scholarship and his surpassing profundity in regard to these texts. They are unique in that they express the mystical and philosophical meaning of the hymns, the flavor being quite different from what one would expect in ordinary scholastic texts. One could say that his perspective is not detached, but in this case, this is preferable, particularly for those who take the hymns very seriously, for those who practice Ællinismόs. These commentaries contain many terms which are foreign to the casual reader. These are mostly Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophical terms Anglicized from the Greek. Eventually all of this terminology will appear in the GLOSSARY.

As mentioned above, there are eighty-seven hymns. The original 1792 Taylor edition lists eighty-six hymns. This is because the hymn to Ækáti (Hekate; Gr. Ἑκάτη) is included at the conclusion of the introductory invocation entitled To Mousaios, not numbering it separately. While the author of this essay was in Greece in 2008, he noticed that the Greek edition of the ancient hymns lists eighty-seven hymns, which he assumes to be correct method of numbering. This numbering problem in the Taylor translation has been revised in the Prometheus Trust 1994 publication entitled Hymns and Initiations, Thomas Taylor Series V, which includes all of Taylor's translations of the hymns with the correct numbering. The online versions that this author has encountered retain the older numbering. The text presented below as a download uses the traditional numbering (not the 1792 numbering).

Explanation of the download for the hymns

This
particular presentation differs from others in several respects. First, the Taylor translation is presented with each poem on a page of its own, making it
possible to print out all the hymns and remove only the hymns required for any particular
ritual. The couplets have been separated as in the original book, making
it easier to rhyme the lines when reciting them (some online versions run the
couplets together). Upon examination of the most commonly available
collections of Taylor’s translation, many mistakes were found; this edition has
been proofread and is thought to be correct.

The ancient Greek is included after each hymn. We originally worked from the text found on the Greek Wiki site for
ancient texts, but discovered that there were minor corruptions,
mostly occasional modern Greek mixed in with the ancient text. Our current text has been proofread against
the ancient text and these corruptions have been eliminated.

Lastly, an index, missing from both the common translations, has
been added at the end, to enable individuals to find the hymns more easily, since
they are not in alphabetical order. The hymns do have a special order, but
it is not alphabetical.

The Apostolos N. Athanassakis translation of the hymns is preferred by many. Word for word, the Athanassakis is more accurate. The book includes the Greek on the left side, the English text on the right. For many years, the 1977 translation was out of print and the cost of used copies exorbitant, but fortunately, it has been re-published in 2013 by John Hopkins University Press at a reasonable price in both paperback and hardcover. This new edition now lists Benjamin M. Wolkow as co-writer with Professor Athanassakis and includes a useful contents list, a comprehensive index, and far more extensive notes and commentary than the earlier publication, altogether an impressive new presentation. Unfortunately, the new edition does not include the text of the hymns in ancient Greek (!), unlike the first edition. The ancient Greek text is available online...anyone can access it from this very site...so it is not a terrible loss, but it was convenient to have the Greek text on the left page and the English translation on the right, similar to the Loeb Classical Library texts. It is most illuminating to compare the Athanassakis translation with the Taylor and also with the original Greek.

Index

There is no contents page in most editions of the hymns, making it difficult to find the hymns you need. For an INDEX to the ORPHIC HYMNS, click on the following link. (This index is included in the Taylor translation download mentioned above) :

INDIVIDUAL PAGES FOR ORPHIC HYMNS: Please follow the below links to pages for individual Orphic hymns which includes the ancient Greek text, a transliteration for easy pronunciation, and the translation into English by Thomas Taylor. Each hymn is then very thoroughly broken down, word-for-word, so that the reader may fully understand its meaning.

There are other poems which are considered Orphic but which are not included in the collection entitled Orphic Hymns. Of particular note and the subject of some discussion are the so-called golden tablets, one of which can be found below (Pætilía Tablet). There is also the Dærvǽni (Derveni; Gr. Δερβένι) Papyrus, which is a long text giving a large section of an Orphic cosmogony. As texts become available, they will appear on the site:

OrphǽohsArgonaftiká:The story of Iásohn (Jason; Gr. Ἰάσων) and the Argonáftai (Argonauts; Gr. Ἀργοναῦται) has several variants, the most common being that which was told by Apollόhnios Rόdios (Apollonios of Rhodes; Gr. Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος), but there is one in the Orphic tradition, narrated by Orphéfs to his pupil Mousaios (Museos; Gr. Μουσαῖος):

Orphic Fragments: This is a download of all the fragments as collected by Professor Otto Kern. They are not translated but found in their original form, in ancient Greek and Latin. This consists of 415 pages of a photographed book; it is not practical to navigate the file on your browser, better to just download it:

[1] Some manuscripts of the Orphic Hymns include a hymn to Ares which is more typically considered one of the Homeric hymns, making the total number of hymns eighty-eight.

[2] See Konstantinos Chassapis The Greek Astronomy of the Second Millennium B.C.E. according to the Orphic Hymns. In the hymn to Apóllohn there is a reference to the summer being equal to the winter. Such a thing occurs only once every 10,000 years and extends approximately 500 years. The last time this happened was 1352-1852 BCE so some people believe that the hymns were written somewhere during this time, but there are some who believe they are much, much older even than this. Chassapis proposed the time-period beginning 11,841 BCE, but this date was not accepted for various reasons by contemporary scholars.

[3] Orpheus: The Theosophy of the Greeks by G.R.S. Mead 1896, Theosophical Publishing Co., pp.16-17. Mead here is making certain assumptions which are questionable. As an example, when he cites Iámvlikhos in his life of Pythagóras (book 34). In reality Iámvlikhos never mentions the Orphic Hymns; he is simply speaking generally about the language of Orphéfs as an author, assuming that Orphéfs himself wrote the hymns (as implied at the beginning of the hymns).

[4] This author has friends in England who have confirmed that people speaking the Yorkshire dialect still, in 2010, use such words as "thee" and "thou" in ordinary secular speech.

The logo to the left is the principal symbol of this website. It is called the CESS logo, i.e. the Children of the Earth and the Starry Sky. The Pætilía (Petelia, Πετηλία) and other golden tablets having this phrase (Γῆς παῖς εἰμί καὶ Οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος) are the inspiration for the symbol. The image represents this idea: Earth (divisible substance) and the Sky (continuous substance) are the two kozmogonic substances. The twelve stars represent the Natural Laws, the dominions of the Olympian Gods. In front of these symbols is the seven-stringed kithára (cithara, κιθάρα), the lyre of Apóllohn (Apollo, Ἀπόλλων). It (here) represents the bond between Gods and mortals and is representative that we are the children of Orphéfs (Orpheus, Ὀρφεύς).

PLEASE NOTE: Throughout the pages of this website, you will find fascinating stories about our Gods. These narratives are known as mythology, the traditional stories of the Gods and Heroes. While these tales are great mystical vehicles containing transcendent truth, they are symbolic and should not be taken literally. A literal reading will frequently yield an erroneous result. The meaning of the myths is concealed in code. To understand them requires a key. For instance, when a God kills someone, this usually means a transformation of the soul to a higher level. Similarly, sexual union with a God is a transformation.

SPELLING: HellenicGods.org uses the Reuchlinian method of pronouncing ancient Greek, the system preferred by scholars from Greece itself. An approach was developed to enable the student to easily approximate the Greek words. Consequently, the way we spell words is unique, as this method of transliteration is exclusive to this website. For more information, visit these three pages:

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